APHC 2015 : Discounted registration rates for APHN Members

 

Dear APHN individual members, registration is now open for the Asia Pacific Hospice Conference in 2015. Please obtain your unique one time ID code from the APHN secretariat (aphn@aphn.org) to enjoy the discount.

Palliative care training Module




According to statistics from the cancer society, there are approximately 250,000 new adult cancer patients in Bangladesh every year. However, in my opinion, the actual figures are probably far away from it because the majority patients were unable to reach to stage of final diagnosis.  In addition, approximately 80% of the cancer patients in our National Institute of Cancer Research & Hospital are in need of palliative care. Hence, in this situation, palliative care is a burning issue in Bangladesh.
I have started working in this field from 2009 at ASHIC Palliative Unit and Shanti Oncology and Palliative Care unit but I could not in any way to serve this kind of patients. When I learnt of a Graduate certificate course which conducted by APHN and Flinders University in Palliative Care, I went ahead to enroll myself in it. However, this course was running outside of Bangladesh and only a minority in Bangladesh could actually go for it. I think Prof. Cynthia Goh realized this and took an initiative to conduct a course in our own country which is the Lien collaborative for palliative care program.

In February 2013, APHN and BSMMU have signed an agreement to provide a training programme in palliative care in Bangladesh. The first module was conducted in July 2013 and second module was conducted in August 2014. After attending these 2 modules, I can now better understand the different aspects of Palliative Care. Symptoms management is a vital matter in this care and this course have opened my eyes to proper way to manage the terminal care symptoms. This course has also helped me to obtain good communication skills which are very much important for palliative care. During each teaching module, the Lien Collaborative for Palliative Care team will collaborate with our local organization to arrange a large group discussion and this helps our medical people to understand what palliative care is. Because of this course, I am starting to feel that people are speaking about palliative care in my country which was a very tough topic when I first started working in this field in 2009.

Syringe driver workshop



22 Graseby syringe drivers MS26 were donated by South West Healthcare, Australia through APHN at ASIC Foundation in Bangladesh. For that purpose, APHN and ASHIC Foundation jointly organized a Syringe Driver Workshop on 14th August 2014 at Dhaka. 20 doctors and nurses from 7 organizations participated in this workshop, sharing knowledge on the use of these drivers. The facilitators of the workshop were Dr. Rumana Dawla, Jan Philips, Neelam Lall, Erin Das and myself. The aim of this workshop was to assist all participants to attain the knowledge and skills required for the safe use of the Graseby MS26 syringe driver in providing appropriate pain and symptom management for both adult and paediatric palliative care patients.

The learning objects of the workshop were to

There were also learning sessions on how to calculate and draw up the drugs required; assemble the Graseby MS26 Syringe Driver; prepare the delivery line; set the delivery rate; assess the appropriate area and insert the cannula or butterfly needle; dress the area and commence the subcutaneous administration of drugs; After thi workshop, the participants will arrange another workshop at their own hospitals with their doctors and nurses and then they will use the drivers for their patients.